WEBSTER CITY, Iowa – Pay no attention to the lyrics put forth by Blue Öyster Cult. Drivers in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship presented by Bad Boy Mowers have good reason to fear “The Reaper” after Wednesday night’s performance.
After finishing third on Sunday at the Monett Speedway in Monett, Mo., Ryan Gustin came to the Hamilton County Speedway as the points leader and left with an even deadlier margin in the standings and increased his series-best win total to 12 this season (13 if you throw in a USMTS Castle Rock Recruiting Southern Series win four months ago).
Make no bones about it, the 19-year-old from Marshalltown showed the patience of a veteran in the 35-lap WIX Filters “A” Main. After starting 11th on the 24-car starting grid, he methodically worked his way to the front and eventually took the lead for good with seven laps to go after a spirited battle with Fertile’s Kelly Shryock.
Polesitter Mike Sorensen gained the advantage over Shryock at the drop of the green flag while fellow Rochester, Minn., racer Tim Donlinger got around Shryock and followed Sorensen to the stripe at the end of lap 1 on perhaps the smoothest racing surface served up for USMTS drivers this season.
With six laps in the books, Shryock found his comfort zone and battled his way past Donlinger for the second spot. At the same time, Gustin powered around the outside of Jason Krohn of Slayton, Minn., to claim the fourth position.
Three laps later, Shryock snagged the top spot away from Sorensen while Gustin moved by Donlinger for third, and then took second place away from Sorensen on lap 12.
During the next 15 laps, Shryock hugged the low line around the sweeping half-mile oval while Gustin went into the corners on the high side and tried to slingshot past Shryock with each orbit.
On lap 25, the two raced side by side down the back-stretch but Shryock was able to maintain the advantage at the flagstand. Two laps later, however, Gustin edged out the nine-time USMTS National Champion at the line and it appeared the fans in attendance were about to get a repeat of the opening race of The Hunt where Shryock and Gustin finished door to door at the Great American Dirt Track in Jetmore, Kan., last Thursday.
With four laps to go, Shryock dove to the inside of Gustin in turn 1 and slid up into the middle lane of the racing surface, making contact with the left rear of Gustin’s machine. It was nearly enough to take both drivers out of the race, but Shryock turned hard left to avoid a pile-up and, instead, went spinning alone to bring out the race’s fourth caution flag.
With Shryock tagging the rear of the field for the restart, opportunity knocked for Jason Hughes of Westville, Okla., who sat in second place after passing three cars during the previous four laps.
A fifth and final yellow flag waved on lap 32, but neither restart allowed Hughes to challenge the leader as “The Reaper” sailed away to collect the $3,000 winner’s share of the prize money.
Tommy Myer of Blooming Prairie, Minn., got around Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon on the final lap to take the third spot while Donlinger crossed beneath the checkered flags in fifth. Sixth through tenth were Jon Tesch, Nate Caruth, Sorensen, Johnny Scott and Bob Timm.
Shryock got around six cars over the last four laps to finish a disappointing 16th and increased the difficulty level in his quest to repeat as the USMTS National Champion.
The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship presented by Bad Boy Mowers
6th Annual Event
Hamilton County Speedway, Webster City, Iowa
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the WIX Filters “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (5) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (6) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
3. (4) Z3 Mike Albertsen, Audubon, Iowa.
4. (7) 26p Kevin Pittman, Waterloo, Iowa.
5. (1) 15m Shane Demey, Denison, Iowa.
6. (8) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
7. (3) 12h Mike Hansen, Alton, Iowa.
8. (2) 7m Michael Darnall (R), West Union, Iowa.
NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (4) 8 Colt Mather, Webster, Iowa.
3. (1) 17s Mike Spaulding, Bemidji, Minn.
4. (7) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
5. (3) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa.
6. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
7. (6) 16 Austin Siebert (R), Grandview, Mo.
8. (8) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 12 Mark Elliott (R), Webster City, Iowa.
2. (6) 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla.
3. (4) 49 Bob Timm, Rollingstone, Minn.
4. (3) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
5. (5) 40 Scott Dickey, Packwood, Iowa.
6. (1) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
7. (7) 26 Dan Fetters, Montour, Iowa.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (5) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (3) 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla.
5. (7) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
6. (2) 8x Scott Olson, Blairsburg, Iowa.
7. (6) B1 Jeff Larson (R), Freeport, Ill.
AMERICAN RACER HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (1) 7c Nate Caruth (R), Ames, Iowa.
2. (6) 3d Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn.
3. (2) 1st Johnny Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (7) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
5. (3) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
6. (5) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo.
7. (4) R4 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (2) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (4) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
3. (1) 49 Bob Timm, Rollingstone, Minn.
4. (3) 17s Mike Spaulding, Bemidji, Minn.
5. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
6. (13) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (6) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, $75.
8. (9) 8x Scott Olson, Blairsburg, Iowa, $75.
9. (11) 26 Dan Fetters, Montour, Iowa, $75.
10. (10) 12h Mike Hansen, Alton, Iowa, $90.
11. (7) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, $90.
12. (5) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., $90.
13. (12) R4 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa, $75.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (2) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
2. (3) 1st Johnny Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (1) 26p Kevin Pittman, Waterloo, Iowa.
4. (4) 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla.
5. (5) 15m Shane Demey, Denison, Iowa.
6. (7) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
7. (11) B1 Jeff Larson (R), Freeport, Ill., $90.
8. (9) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo., $90.
9. (10) 16 Austin Siebert (R), Grandview, Mo., $90.
10. (6) 40 Scott Dickey, Packwood, Iowa, $90.
11. (8) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., $90.
12. (12) 7m Michael Darnall (R), West Union, Iowa, $90.
WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (11) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 35, $3000.
2. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $1500.
3. (14) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/Sput’s, 35, $1000.
4. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $900.
5. (4) 3d Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn., Ramirez/Sput’s, 35, $800.
6. (13) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., Ramirez/Sput’s, 35, $700.
7. (3) 7c Nate Caruth (R), Ames, Iowa, Shaw/Sput’s, 35, $650.
8. (1) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/Action, 35, $600.
9. (16) 1st Johnny Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ASI, 35, $550.
10. (17) 49 Bob Timm, Rollingstone, Minn., Fegers/Sput’s, 35, $500.
11. (18) 26p Kevin Pittman, Waterloo, Iowa, Victory/AEM, 35, $450.
12. (20) 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Clements, 35, $425.
13. (9) 8 Colt Mather, Webster, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $400.
14. (10) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Ramirez/ProPower, 35, $400.
15. (5) 12 Mark Elliott (R), Webster City, Iowa, Harris/Sput’s, 35, $350.
16. (2) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 35, $400.
17. (23) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, 35, $300.
18. (24) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, 35, $300.
19. (19) 17s Mike Spaulding, Bemidji, Minn., BC/Mullins, 35, $300.
20. (22) 15m Shane Demey, Denison, Iowa, BMS/Gustaf, 35, $250.
21. (21) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Sput’s, 35, $500.
22. (6) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 34, mechanical, $400.
23. (15) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/KSE, 19, mechanical, $300.
24. (12) Z3 Mike Albertsen, Audubon, Iowa, Harris/JR, 9, mechanical, $300.
(R) = DandyLand Farms Rookie of the Year contender.
WIX Filters Lap Leaders: Sorensen 1-8, Shryock 9-26, Gustin 27-35.
Total Laps Led: Shryock 18, Gustin 9, Sorensen 8.
Margin of Victory: 0.892 second.
AFCO Pole Winner: Krohn.
PBM Performance Products Hard Charger: Myer (started 14th, finished 3rd).
Ruter Farms Long Tow: Sanders (911.19 miles).
Next Race: Thursday, Aug. 19, Hancock County Speedway, Britt, Iowa.
Points Standings: Gustin 506, Hughes 488, VanderBeek 484, Shryock 455, Donlinger 436, Myer 434, Ramirez 432, Tesch 422, Sanders 396, Scott 391.
DandyLand Farms Rookie of the Year Points: Scott 1624, Nick Deal 772, Curt Myers 619, Elliott 574, Lucas Conley 552.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 341, Sput’s 338, ASI 179, ProPower 161, AEM 132.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: Hughes 340, Skyrocket 333, GRT 270, Ramirez 238, Harris 145.
Contingency Awards:
Ai-Racing – Scott.
American Racer – Sorensen.
ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems – Donlinger.
Dart Machinery – Weder.
Eibach Springs – VanderBeek.
Forty9Designs.com – VanderBeek, Scott.
Hooker Harness – Mather.
Isky Racing Cams – Krohn.
KSE Racing Products – VanderBeek.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Albertsen.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Pittman.
PBM Performance Products – Myer.
Quarter Master – Gustin, Sorensen.
QuickTime – Caruth.
Real Racing Wheels – Hillson, Dripps.
Schoenfeld Headers – Elliott.
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